It's over: Mars Volta singer makes it official

The Mars Volta was one of those bands that — although ostensibly on “hiatus” since early last year — fans eagerly awaited new work from. But, in a series of tweets Wednesday night, singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala made it clear that that's not happening.

“I can't sit here and pretend anymore,” he tweeted, as reported by Rolling Stone and just about every music blog on the planet. “I am no longer a member of the Mars Volta.”

“The lyricist didn't explain what led to the split,” reported Rolling Stone, “apart from writing that he had favored launching 'a full-scale American tour' for last year's album 'Noctourniquet,' while bandmate Omar Rodríguez-Lopéz didn't. Instead, the guitarist started another group, Bosnian Rainbows.”

Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-Lopéz were previously bandmates in the influential hard-core band At the Drive-In, and both musical outfits racked up fans, particularly here in Worcester. But Mars Volta, with its mad-science fusion of metal and psychedelic sounds, particularly made an impression.

“While At the Drive-In never lived up to its potential,” wrote Telegram music columnist Scott McLennan in a 2003 review of the band's debut CD, “De-Loused in the Comatorium,” “the defunct band's offshoots are making up for that lost promise.”

“Last year we heard from Sparta, the first group to feature ex-ATDI members. Now comes The Mars Volta, the brainchild of ATDI's Omar Rodríguez-Lopéz and Cedric Bixler-Zavala.

“Where Sparta crammed smart, emotional music into compact, accessible tunes, The Mars Volta chose to run against the popular grain with lengthy, experimental songs. It's easy to see how the conflicting forces within ATDI made it so compelling and ultimately led to its undoing.”

By 2008 — and several reviews and concerts later — McLennan was unreserved in his advocacy for the band, writing in a review of the band's CD, “The Bedlam in Goliath”:

“Memo to record company execs: Listen to The Mars Volta.

“With so much music out there that holds little interest beyond its effectiveness as a ring tone, it is no wonder that the record industry is in the midst of a historic meltdown. Not that every band needs to, or possibly could, make records like the ones made by The Mars Volta, but every record company roster should have at least one totally unbridled free spirit ... a contemporary act that still believes in the promise posited by such pioneers as Jimi Hendrix or Carlos Santana who sincerely argued that music could take you higher. Guys like that simply boost the karma of whatever room they are in.”

McLennan was hardly alone in his admiration. The band seemed to collect critical acclaim and fan-base loyalty with ease, and even spin-off bands and separate projects by the band's various members were greeted with excitement, such as when former Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen brought his band, The Memorials, to Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner in August.

Still, while many are mourning a favorite band, some are looking ahead to the future, and what Bixler-Zavala and the band's other musicians might do next.

“As Bosnian Rainbows,” writes Spin Magazine, “Rodríguez-López teams with drummer Deantoni Parks, keyboardist Nicci Kasper, and singer Teri Gender-Bender, who's also in experimental noise outfit Le Butcherettes. 'Torn Maps' is a snapping, new-wavey alt-pop song with, true to Gender-Bender's name, androgynously piercing vocals. Aside from the blazing guitar work and an oddball synth interlude, it's a reminder of that time in the early 2000s when new-new-wave acts like stellastarr*, Hot Hot Heat, and Edward Sharpe precursor Ima Robot were popping up out of the '80s-vintage woodwork.” (Victor D. Infante)